Chapter 13 – The Fairy’s Mercy

The attendants marched Lin Yue toward the bronze gates with practical efficiency. One led while the other followed, maintaining perfect positions that eliminated any chance to slip away.

Their synchronized steps echoed off the temple walls until they reached the massive doors. Both men stepped forward in unison, shoulders aligned as they focused on the gates ahead.

Perfect. Lin Yue spun to bolt—and nearly slammed straight into a wall of white-robed muscle. She stepped back, neck craning to look up at the mountain of a man blocking her escape.

“Going somewhere?” The brute’s deep voice rumbled through the hall.

Lin Yue eyed the wooden club visible beneath his pristine robes. The weapon looked sized to crush skulls with minimal effort. Her fingers tightened around her concealed knife.

Three against one. Shit odds.

Lin Yue’s fingers tightened around the knife handle. One quick thrust up under his ribs would open a path—but the two attendants still stood behind her, ready to pounce.

A deep gong reverberated through the temple. The massive bronze gates groaned as they began their slow descent, each inch of movement echoing with finality.

“Well, this is delightful,” Shadow drawled. “Trapped like rats in a temple. How poetic.”

Shut up, you useless parasite. Lin Yue ground her teeth, scanning the chamber. The second-floor balcony had caught her attention on the way in—its decorative pillars and ledges formed a perfect climbing route.

If she could reach the stairs...

Shadow’s laughter echoed through Lin Yue’s mind. “Do you feel it?”

Lin Yue’s jaw clenched. The attendants’ footsteps continued their methodical rhythm against the stone floor. She couldn’t reply without giving herself away.

“Time to kill. Kill, kill, kill. Tasty souls, maybe innocent, probably not,” Shadow chattered. “Death is near!”

Blood rushed through her ears. Each breath brought new sensations: the musty temple air, incense burning somewhere distant, the soft swish of robes against stone. Her skin prickled with heightened awareness of every movement around her.

“Where are you taking me?” Lin Yue injected a tremor into her voice.

The attendants maintained their steady pace.

“Please, I want to go home.” She let her shoulders slump, projecting helplessness.

“Ah, but strife and conflict create the conditions to find meaning... and power.” Shadow’s words dripped with philosophical smugness.

Really? Philosophy lessons now? Unless he aimed to distract her from something...

An open doorway appeared ahead, revealing a darkened stairwell before the hallway’s intersection. Lin Yue’s muscles coiled tight. Three quick moves—plant the knife in the back of each guard in front of her, then face the brute. Her fingers wrapped around the weapon’s handle.

“What are you doing?” A female voice cut through the silence.

Lin Yue and her escort froze mid-step.

The unexpected words shattered her focus. Dammit, interruptions!

Shadow coiled tight around Lin Yue’s neck, scales pressing against her skin. “A female fairy,” he hissed close to her ear.

The lead attendant bowed deep. “We brought an offering, Immortal Maiden. She came to pray for mercy.”

Lin Yue’s breath caught. The young woman before them wore a refined lavender dress cinched with a black sash that rippled like liquid shade. Pure white hair cascaded down her back, framing striking light blue eyes that seemed to pierce straight through everything. A lacquered black short sword hung at her waist, its presence more threatening than any crude temple guard’s club.

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Fairy? Righteous sect cultivator? Lin Yue’s stomach twisted. The woman’s cultivation level remained completely unreadable—a sure sign she operated on a whole different level. One wrong move and Lin Yue’s knife skills and one day of open meridians wouldn’t mean shit against proper spiritual whatever.

“I want to go home.” Lin Yue forced the words past dry lips.

The fairy’s perfect brows drew together as she frowned at the attendants. “Leave us.”

Lin Yue blinked. That’s it? The simplicity of the command caught her completely off guard.

The attendants exchanged uncertain glances but backed away with respectful bows, leaving them alone.

The fairy’s serene expression hardened into sharp angles. Her light blue eyes narrowed as she studied Lin Yue with predatory focus.

“What do you want?” The words cut through the air like frost.

Lin Yue shuffled back half a step. “To go home?”

A weary sigh escaped the fairy’s perfect lips. “You shouldn’t have come here.”

Lin Yue stared at the intricate floor tiles, counting the spiraling patterns. “I was in trouble.”

“I know exactly what you came for.” The fairy’s hand drifted to her sword hilt. “You need to leave.”

“Perfect.” Lin Yue straightened. “I changed my mind, anyway. Those guards dragged me in when I tried escaping.”

The fairy’s brows knitted together. “Then why—” She stopped mid-sentence, shaking her head. “It’s good you didn’t kill them. Follow me.”

Shadow coiled tight around Lin Yue’s neck, scales pressed flat against her skin. The usually chatty dragon remained deathly silent, as if trying to compress himself into nothingness.

The fairy turned toward the stairs, her black sash rippling. Each step echoed with graceful precision as she ascended toward the balcony. Lin Yue followed, hyper-aware of the distance between them.

The fairy stopped at the balcony’s edge and pointed toward the street below. “You can make it down from here, can’t you?”

Lin Yue studied the handholds and ledges she’d spotted earlier. Although… she could probably just jump down from this height now with no issue. “Yes.”

This seems too easy. Lin Yue watched the fairy’s every movement. No cultivator just let potential victims walk away—especially not after catching them harvesting souls…

Or that was what Shadow had led her to believe. She didn’t think he’d be wrong on that… so what was wrong with this girl?

The distance between them vanished. Lin Yue breathed in fresh lavender and delicate florals as the fairy pressed something cold into her palm. The smooth surface sent a jolt of spiritual energy up her arm.

Lin Yue stared at the spirit stone gleaming in her hand. Pure spiritual energy pulsed within—worth more than everything she had ever stolen in her life before this mess had started.

“Why?” The word scraped past her dry throat.

The fairy’s light blue eyes softened. “Because I still believe this is a place of mercy.” Steel crept back into her tone. “Now leave and never come back.”

Lin Yue gripped the spirit stone tight. “What’s your name?”

The other girl’s piercing glare could have frozen hellfire. “Yin Ruo.”

The name struck Lin Yue like a physical blow. Silvery-like. The meaning echoed through her mind as she stared at Yin Ruo’s flowing white hair catching the temple’s lamplight. Those pale blue eyes drew her in, sharp and beautiful as winter frost. The tension crackled between them, shattering Lin Yue’s careful self-control.

Instead of retreating, Lin Yue stepped forward. Her fingers reached out to capture a strand of that ethereal white hair. Yin Ruo stiffened but didn’t move away, confusion replacing her expression.

“My name is Lin Yue.” The words tumbled out before she could stop them. “And the moon in the forest is silvery and soft—like your name, like you.”

A fierce blush blazed across Yin Ruo’s pale cheeks.

Lin Yue spun and darted for the balcony. She vaulted over the railing and dropped, catching ledges and handholds in rapid succession. Her boots hit the temple square’s stones with a solid thud. She power-walked out of the temple square, forcing herself not to run.

“Way to go confusing the enemy like that!” Shadow’s excitement bubbled. “The master con artist strikes again!”

Pure panic flooded Lin Yue’s chest. Why did I say that? The thought screamed through her mind on endless repeat.

She was never going back to the temple district ever again.